Blues club owner Antone dead at 56

He was credited with launching several prominent careers.

He was credited with launching several prominent careers.

May 25, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Clifford Antone, owner of the namesake blues club credited with launching the careers of Stevie Ray Vaughan and other musicians, has died. He was 56. Laura Albrecht, a spokeswoman for the Austin Police Department, said officers responded to a 911 call at Antone's home. The death Tuesday did not appear to be suspicious, and the cause of death was being investigated. Fats Domino, John Lee Hooker and B.B. King performed at Antone's, which became famous as the home club of rising Texas stars Vaughan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Vaughan died in a helicopter crash in 1990. Antone was 25 when he founded the club, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. In 1987, he also started Antone's Records and Tapes, a recording label that featured many of the club's top acts. Antone went to prison on federal charges of drug trafficking and money laundering in 2000 and was released in 2003. The charges stemmed from a plot to distribute more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana and launder roughly $950,000 in drug proceeds. Dozens of conspirators pleaded guilty in the scheme. Antone also pleaded guilty in the early 1980s to a marijuana charge and served time in a federal prison camp.